Market Garden 1944 - 2014

About the author

Keeping the memory of our history alive

Why does someone who was born many years after the end of World War II spend a lot of his time recording en writing about WWII?

That is an interesting question indeed. I personally think that the WWII has been a unique event in our history. It has had an enormous effect on a whole generation worldwide. This effect was not only felt by the men on the battlefields but also by almost all those people that lived far away from the frontline. Everyone knew someone who was either fighting in the war or had lost someone in the many (mostly allied) bombardments all over Western Europe.

Tour with school class

Tour on an old Luftwaffe airfield with a local schoolclass. Photo: Eric Heijink

In the past years I have corresponded with many veterans and civilians who have told me their experiences of events that where often traumatic. Post-traumatic stress was not yet known at that time an many of them had to move on without being able to talk about their experiences. They started talking about these events in the later part of their lives.

By giving these people a platform on my websites to share their stories I am trying to contribute to the awareness that the events of WWII should never happen again. Given the tensions on the political level at the moment this is a message that is more relevant now than it has been in a long time.

WWII Exhibit in Enschede

WWII Exhibit about Enschede in WWII with stories an items from own collection. Photo: Eric Heijink

Keeping the memory of our history alive is what I am trying to do here on this website. You can find my other projects here:

Besides building and maintaining these websites I am also keeping the memories about WWII alive by periodically hosting an exhibit about WWII with material from my own collection (photos from the last exhibit) and by sometimes telling about it at a local school.

If you have recommondations, suggestions, contributions or otherwise would like to contact. You can send me an e-mail: info@secondworldwar.nl

Many men from both sides lost their lives during the battle for Arnhem an in fighting in the corridor. These are the main cemeteries where the men of the battle where buried, but this list is not complete.